Two Weeks in Asia

If you have only 2 weeks in hand then you might just consider visiting one country only. There are many 2-week itineraries on the internet that advises you to see at least 6 – 8 places in a short period of time but those tours will leave you unsatisfied. We suggest that you pick up 4 – 5 places only and build your itinerary around those so that you do not exceed your budget.

Each country in Asia is worth a visit with all its pros and cons; so it becomes a bit difficult to drop any from a list. But considering the 2-week period, one can easily visit Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore/Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam. West Asia has been left out as it is impossible to do all in just a 2 –week window and Japan is very expensive.

Any 2-week itinerary requires a lot of air travel and there is simply no time of overland travel. Thankfully, Air Asia is the perfect for short and cheap flights. But you should always choose to travel during the off-season as flights; hotels and day tours always work out at cheap rates. When you are traveling around Asia a daily budget of $50 per day (2 persons) is just enough. If you are traveling alone then you can settle for $35 per day. This includes everything except travel insurance and flights from your home country. This budget has been fixed with the assumption that you will stick t reasonable drinking and consume local food only.

Since you will be visiting a number of countries in 2 weeks, it will be a bit difficult to give you a generalized budget. So the following date should help you in deciding your itinerary –

The $50 per day budget is good for Thailand. You can enjoy a superb American breakfast, have good local food and find rooms in a decent hotel/hostel. For Cambodia you can fix the budget at $40 – 45 as the country is cheaper than Thailand. You can tour Malaysia for only $40 per day but this budget would be difficult in KL.

Rest of the country is great value for money as you will get comfortable and decent rooms under $10. Just keep off from alcohol as it is very expensive here. Hong Kong and Singapore are very expensive places in Asia and you must be ready to shell out around $75 to 100 per day. Be informed that rooms will be at least $50 per night and cost of transportation is almost similar to Western countries. Thankfully, food is cheap in both these places and this is where you can save. Other places in this part of the world like Indonesia and Myanmar are well within budget and if you have time you should visit them.